Trump’s endorsement meant a lot in Texas’ Republican primary. But his golden ticket could lose its luster come the 2022 general election.

• Trump has endorsed more than 20 Texas Republicans in the primary races.
• Trump’s endorsement helped the primary candidates who earned it.
• But strategists say a Trump endorsement doesn’t always deliver a win for general election candidates.

SAN ANTONIO — In a crowd of around 200 people, white signs with the words “Greg Abbott” hung in the air. One woman waved a sign with the words “God, Guns, and Greg” written on it. Another man sported a red hat with the word “Trump” emblazoned on it.

The rally marked one of the final stops for Abbott before the Republican primary on Tuesday. The large crowd was mostly full of older people, while a few children sat on their parents’ shoulders and some teenagers stood on the sidelines eating the pork tacos being handed out. 

The crowd cheered when Abbott touted his promise to keep building a border wall and praised Trump’s immigration policies that sought to deter unlawful entry into the US in a venue where maps of Mexico and Guatemala draped the walls. They clapped and whistled when he spoke of getting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi out of office, fighting against the liberal leftist agenda and supporting the National Guard. 

But Abbott isn’t universally loved among conservative Texans, and his primary campaign hasn’t been without complications. Although Abbott again won the Republican nomination for governor and a chance for his third four-year term, he faced seven challengers in the Republican primary.

One, Allen West, is a former congressman and ex-chairman of the Republican Party of Texas who ran to Abbott’s right and accused the governor of being weak on crime and, as a result, “aiding and abetting drug, human, and sex trafficking.” West placed a distant second. Don Huffines, who finished third, billed himself as “an actual Republican.”

But in addition to the inherent power of incumbency, Abbott had something the other challengers didn’t have: the endorsement of Donald Trump.

And Texas candidates who had earned the 45th president’s golden ticket fared extremely well Tuesday.

Abbott is one of at least 19 Republican incumbents who are running for office in Texas with Trump’s support. Attorney General Ken Paxton, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Rep. Michael Cloud, a Republican of Texas representing the 27th congressional district, are among the others. 

At least 18 of these incumbents appeared to have won their Republican primaries as of 10 p.m. central time March 1, although vote counting is still underway. With many 2022 Republican primaries still undecided, Trump’s performance signals a larger trend that Trump’s endorsement — even as the former president’s popularity has slipped a bit nationally — still serves as an advantage rather than a liability when conservatives are battling conservatives. 

“We’ve seen just in the polling that he still has a lot of sway and popularity, especially for his policies more than anything,” Brendan Steinhauser, a Texas GOP strategist based in Austin, told Insider.

Several voters in San Antonio told Insider that they are voting specifically for Abbott, Paxton, and Patrick because of Trump’s endorsement.

“He’s the best president we have ever had,” Kenny Fritz, 63, told Insider. He added that he wants Trump to run for office again in 2024. 

Vaughn Switzer, 76, resident of San Antonio since, said Trump’s endorsement did factor into his decision to support Abbott, saying “I trust Trump.”

Other voters who voted for Abbott in the primary said they voted for him based on his values, not Trump’s endorsement. 

“I voted for Abbott because of what he’s done for the people of Texas for his great courage and power that he uses,” Jesse Balseras, 69, a San Antonio resident, said. 

Jae, a voter who attended the San Antonio rally on Monday — he wouldn’t give his full name — wore a tan cowboy hat and a navy blue and white shirt with the words “Austin Texas” on it. He said he supports Abbott because of the governor’s support for veterans and for his stances on open carry laws in the state of Texas. While speaking enthusiastically about the right to carry arms, he lifted up his back shirt. Beneath it: his 9-millimeter handgun.

“Democrats say we need to get rid of all guns. We need to confiscate guns because too many people are getting killed. We need to hold police accountable, and I believe in accountability, but my thing is, guns don’t kill people. People kill people,” he said. 

Trump or no Trump?

While a Trump endorsement is a valuable commodity in a partisan primary, it may be less so in a general election.

Consider what happened during November in Virginia. 

There, Republican Glenn Youngkin upset Democrat Terry McAuliffe to win the increasingly blue state’s governorship. 

Trump endorsed Youngkin, but that’s about all he did. The former president never physically campaigned for Youngkin in Virginia, and Youngkin often seemed to go out of his way not to mention Trump and run his own campaign, where pocketbook issues and personal liberty — no mask mandates, parents’ rights in education — were overarching themes. Youngkin proved that a big-time Republican can win over Trump voters without fully embracing Trump.

 “The biggest fear is that the former President Trump finds out after this election cycle that Republican candidates don’t need him in order to win,” a longtime Texas GOP strategist, who did not want to be quoted for fear of retribution.

Some conservative Republican activist groups are still skeptical that Trump’s endorsement will mean much in the general election. 

“In most grassroots conservative circles, people roll their eyes when Trump gives an endorsement. His picks are inconsistent at best. But low-info voters do look at that and can be fooled (and there are a lot of them),” Julie McCarty, CEO of the True Texas Project, an activist group,said in a statement to Insider. 

Trump, who is angling toward his own 2024 presidential bid, has already endorsed at least 98 candidates in the 2022 elections; at least 23 are running in Texas, that includes incumbents and candidates running for the first time. 

In November, the general election will prove to be an even bigger test on whether Trump’s endorsement still holds weight, the longtime GOP strategist said. The ramifications of a devalued Trump endorsement could affect the endorsees as much as the endorser, considering that other Republicans, from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, might consider entering the 2024 presidential race if Trump’s star dims. 

Now that Abbott will officially face off against Democrat Beto O’Rourke — a candidate whose luster has faded after a failed US Senate campaign and an aborted presidential bid, but who remains a formidable fundraiser and foe — the governor has a prime opportunity to reaffirm that he’s the boss in Texas. No matter what role Trump plays.

“These are people who are running for governor this election that do not love America the way you do — who do not think America in its past is the greatest country in the history of the world and want to redesign our future along their vision and their socialist ideals,” Abbott told his supporters.